Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
For the first time since the KMT chairmanship election, Ma said that he would respect Wang's wish to step down as one of the party's vice chairman. Ma said he "temporarily respects" Wang's decision, but the job would be held open for him.
Wang did agree, however, to take up the job of the president of the presidium of the KMT's Central Evaluation Committee.
PHOTO: JIAN RONG-FENG, TAIPEI TIMES
The two men met for 50 minutes behind closed doors at Wang's official residence on Chungching S Road.
Afterwards, they told reporters that they had agreed to cooperate on controversial legislation and other topics, such as the arms-procurement budget, the flood-control bill and confirmation of President Chen Shui-bian's (
Ma said he took advantage of the meeting to explain four items believed to have sabotaged relations between the two men during the election and contributed to Wang's defeat.
Ma said that the "black gold" remarks made by his campaign office were not targeted at Wang, but were meant to emphasize the party's long-term commitment to combat "black gold" politics.
He said that he had never doubted for a second that Wang is a strong opponent of independence.
Ma said that the issue of alleged fake party members in the Yunlin chapter had nothing to do with Wang because the chapter was later punished for its negligence in handling the matter.
Regarding vote-buying allegations, Ma said that there was no evidence to prove that Wang's campaign office was involved in any way.
Apparently still upset by the vote-buying allegation, Wang said the accusation on the day of the election was groundless and false.
"I told Ma that the footage run repeatedly on TV that day was similar to the coverage of the March 19 election-eve assassination attempt," he said, referring to last year's shooting of President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮).
Wang said that he has never asked Ma to apologize for anything but misunderstandings must be straightened out. He said that he would do his best, as a party member, to help Ma in the future.
"I think his apologies are addressed to the wrong person," Wang said, adding that "We should just put bad feelings behind us and move on."
Describing their talk as "amicable," the two men agreed that the meeting marked the beginning of a more cooperative relationship.
Both, however, refused to discuss the 2008 presidential election.
"Let's talk about it in 2007," Ma said.
Earlier yesterday, Wang told a radio program host that he did not expect another KMT member to challenge Ma to be the party's presidential candidate. He also said that it had never crossed his mind to seek the presidency.
Ma later said that Wang still stood a chance at running in 2008 because the chairmanship election does not guarantee the party's nomination for the presidential election.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) yesterday appealed to the authorities to release former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) from pretrial detention amid conflicting reports about his health. The TPP at a news conference on Thursday said that Ko should be released to a hospital for treatment, adding that he has blood in his urine and had spells of pain and nausea followed by vomiting over the past three months. Hsieh Yen-yau (謝炎堯), a retired professor of internal medicine and Ko’s former teacher, said that Ko’s symptoms aligned with gallstones, kidney inflammation and potentially dangerous heart conditions. Ko, charged with
RSS